Asbestos cement construction materials have been known and widely used. Such materials include roofing titles, corrugated sheets, interior and exterior building panels, and asbestos cement pipes. In recent years the asbestos cement industry has been attempting to find replacements for asbestos fibers becuase of the growing health concerns associated with asbestos and because reserves of the forms of this natural material suitable for cement reinforcement are being depleted and prices are increasing.
A variety of synthetic organic fibers such as acrylics, polyvinyl alcohol, aramids, polyolefins and the like are being evaluated by the asbestos cement industry. Two of the primary requirements for an asbestos replacement fiber are high modulus or stiffness and good adhesion to cement. Aramid fibers, for example, have high moduli (&lt;400 gpd) but increased adhesion is desirable. The subject of the present invention is a fiber coating which greatly enhances fiber/cement adhesion and significantly improves the strength of the resulting fiber reinforced cement products.